The Electric Union (UNE) of Cuba reported today that this Sunday there were blackouts on the island amounting to 1,341 MW. As is customary, this figure is higher than what they had estimated, and also above the 1,325 recorded on Saturday night.
Although the situation is presumed to improve a bit by this Monday, the forecast for power outages for this last day of September remains over 1,100 MW, largely due to the fuel shortage, as the UNE only reports three thermoelectric units out of service due to breakdowns.
On September 29, the service was affected by a generation capacity deficit for 24 hours a day, which continued throughout the night.
The maximum impact during peak hours was 1,341 MW at 8:20 p.m., coinciding with the peak hour. This figure was higher than the estimated 1,278 MW.
The availability of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) at 7:00 a.m. today was 1,890 MW, and the demand was 2,610 MW, with 740 MW affected by a capacity deficit.
For the noon schedule this Monday, the forecast for power outages is extremely high: 950 MW.
Despite the complicated situation, initially the UNE only reports three thermal power units out of order and one under maintenance.
Unit 6 of Mariel, Unit 2 of CTE Felton, and Unit 5 of CTE Renté are out of service due to breakdown.
Unit 2 of the Santa Cruz CTE is under maintenance.
The limitations in thermal generation are 512 MW, a very high figure.
A total of 47 distributed generation plants are out of service due to fuel, as well as the Patana of Santiago de Cuba, motors in the Patana of Melones, and the Patana of Regla, amounting to 594 MW, with 305 MW in distributed groups and 289 MW in the patanas.
For the peak, a recovery of 100 MW is estimated from distributed generation engines that are out of service due to fuel, the addition of 10 engines in the Melones barge with 160 MW, the addition of the Regla barge with 45 MW, and the addition of unit 6 from Mariel, with 65 MW.
These entries slightly improve the forecast for today: a capacity of 2,260 MW is estimated for peak hour and a maximum demand of 3,300 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,040 MW.
If the expected conditions are maintained, a disruption of 1,110 MW is forecasted for this time, a figure lower than yesterday's prediction but still very high.
The grim outlook has generated hundreds of comments on the Facebook profile of the Unión Eléctrica, where some Cubans choose to vent their frustration over the blackouts on the island, which for many has become the fundamental problem they must face daily, in a context where there are numerous battles to fight in order to get by day to day.
"Oil is the foundation of everything"; "Those who run the country should be ashamed"; "Don't struggle anymore and just turn everything off. It's better to turn everything off than to be in this despair"; "Anyway, life continues the same, I mean, if it can be called life"; "They are destroying people's mental health," were some comments.
"Turn over the country, they can't handle it," declared a citizen, following a recurring sentiment in recent years, in which the ineffectiveness of Díaz-Canel's government to address the growing crisis has been evidenced time and again.
What do you think?
VIEW COMMENTS (8)Filed under:
